Knowing
by Aerial312
Summary: A missing scene from Enemies Foreign.


Tony trudged up the stairs to his apartment. It had been a long couple of days. Things were never dull with Eli David around. Today was full of protection drills and capturing (or killing, in Liat's case), Palestinian terrorists. He was surprised they were able to go home at all, but Gibbs had ordered them to go get a couple hours sleep. Not that four hours made much difference, Tony thought. It was almost worse than not getting any sleep.

He was concerned about Ziva. He could tell that her father's presence was weighing on her. She hadn't said anything, of course, but that wasn't her way. Ziva suffered in silence. He had wanted to check in with her, but Ziva had shot out the door the minute Gibbs gave them the go ahead. She hadn't answered her phone, and he'd decided against calling again. She had ignored his call for a reason, and he didn't need to piss her off even more on an already stressful day.

He closed the door behind him, and dropped his backpack to the ground. Kicking his shoes off as he trudged into the dark apartment, something caught his eye. Ziva was lying on his couch, still wearing her coat. He paused and watched her in silence for a while. She was staring straight ahead with a blank expression on her face. It didn't seem like she'd heard him come in.

That familiar pang he'd felt all day was there again. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how. Or if she'd even welcome his help. Though her lying on his couch at one o'clock in the morning was a sign that she needed something.

He walked across the room and stood next to the couch.

"Hey," he said softly. No response. "Ziva." He laid his hand on her back.

She jumped at his touch, drawing her knees to her chest.

He jerked his hand away. "Sorry." He sank to sit on the floor beside the couch.

"I did not hear you come in," she told him quietly.

"Obviously," he smiled, trying for levity.

The corners of her mouth turned down, as her blank expression quickly became a frown and she abruptly sat up. "I should not have come."

She stood, and started to cross away, but he caught her hand in his. She paused, not looking at him. He took a deep breath. "Why are you here, Zi?"

"I do not know," she answered, wrenching her hand away.

The door was open before he was fully on his feet. "Don't go."

To his surprise she actually stopped, though she remained facing away from him. Out of instinct his hand rose up to touch her arm, but he retracted it at the last moment. She was a little skittish tonight, and he didn't want her to run. Instead, he reached past her, and closed the door. They stood in silence for a long time, close, but not actually touching. She studied the hardwood floor at her feet, while he studied her.

Finally, he asked, "Do you want to talk?"

If he hadn't been staring at her, he would have missed the slight shake of her head.

It was another long moment of silence before she said. "I do not want to talk."

To Tony, it sounded like she was still persuading herself. "What do you want?" he asked.

She turned to look at him with an odd expression. He bowed his head with a chuckle. He hadn't meant for it sound like a proposition, but obviously it had come across that way. Taking her to bed, under the circumstances, was probably a terrible idea. That he realized this before acting spoke volumes about how far they had come.

"I…uh…I didn't mean—" he looked up sheepishly, trying to walk it back.

"I know," she told him, finally holding his gaze. Her expression had lightened some in the course of the exchange. That was a step in the right direction.

"Come sit." He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the couch. She followed without argument, and sat beside him, allowing him to help her out of her coat this time. He tossed it aside, and laid his arm across the back of the couch behind her.

She snorted a laugh. "Smooth." But she leaned into his side anyways. "I still do not wish to talk."

He wrapped the arm around her, pulling her close. "I know."

"You will not push?" she asked, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

"I won't," he promised. "Sleep."

"Unlikely."

"Rest, then."

"I will try."

He kissed the top of her head. "I'll be here, you know, when you want to talk."

"I know."


End file.
